The practice of using heat energy for cosmetic body shaping is known. Heating the skin and underlying tissues causes tissue shrinkage and produces the desired cosmetic effect.
The use of RF energy emitting devices for cosmetic body shaping is also known. Cosmetic body shaping treatment is administered using an applicator including one or more RF electrodes. The electrodes' RF energy applying surface, coupled with the surface of the skin, generate in the skin an electric current that in-turn generates heat in the skin and underlying subcutaneous tissues to create the desired effect of tissue shrinkage.
Frequently the coupling of such an electrode to the skin results in partial contact only between the energy applying surface of the electrode and the skin in contact with the electrode surface. Partial contact between the RF electrode and the skin results in reduced efficiency of the application of RF energy from the electrode energy applying surface to the skin coupled to the surface and non-uniform distribution of heat produced in the tissue underlying the surface of the electrode, overheating one area and under-heating another, bringing about undesirable, less than optimal results of the cosmetic treatment as a whole.
To improve contact, a medium such as electrically-conductive and/or adhesive gel is applied to the skin prior to coupling of the RF electrode.
Recently, the at-home use of personal cosmetic body-shaping devices have become popular. Disposable components, primarily components that come in contact with the body, are employed to replace reusable components wherever possible to make such devices user-friendly and less costly as well as more hygienic. Since some device components may be quite expensive and/or non-disposable, creative solutions are sometimes necessary to enable reuse of such components while maintaining disposability of others.
The present device and method provide a solution for improving the contact and adhesion of a disposable RF electrode to the underlying surface of the skin increasing the efficiency of RF energy applying to the skin and providing a more uniform heat distribution in the skin bringing about safer and more satisfactory cosmetic treatment results.